Yakutsk also known as the coldest city in the world. The world’s coldest temperature outside of Antarctica was recorded not far from Yakutsk in the basin of the Yana River. During the winter, average lows drop below freezing in September and don’t climb back out until May. In January the average high is minus 34 degrees F; the record low for the month is a bone-blasting minus 81.4 degrees. The yakutian Laika is a versatile dog with excellent sense of smell, hearing and vision, strong hunting drive, endurance; they are aggressive to predators and soft and gentle to humans. They are multi-purpose, have got excellent sense of smell, absolute pitch and good eyesight. They are tireless and with good anger towards predators.
At the same time, they’ve got kind character and are very faithful to people. Yakutian Laikas are not demanding to conditions of life and easily endure the hostile climate of northern Siberia.
In harsh Siberian conditions they reveal their stamina; they tend to work in small groups and can work through the whole day, from dawn to sunset. Popularity of dog sledding appeared with the arrival of Russian traders to the Arctic. Both Seroshevsky and Yokhelson described the Yakutian Sled Dog similarly: “Legs relatively thick and short, chest, which is used to pull sleds, perfectly developed; neck is thick and short. Face is unusually intelligent and with melancholic or grim expression”. In principle, it remains so today and the dogs little changed with the spreading civilization in the Yakutian north.
